How should government best utilize technology to engage the public and make government more transparent and accessible? Well I think that what Obama is already doing is a good start, by allowing the public to access government through the use of technology. With Obama being a big advocate of change, the announcement of his weekly address as a YouTube video is just the beginning of many changes that will take place as a result of him becoming president. Throughout his campaign, Obama grabbed the attention of young voters and by posting his weekly addresses on YouTube, it will be convenient for young Americans to have access to these addresses on a popular site.
This is just one of the ways that Obama will make change during his presidency. According to the Washington Post article by Jose Antonio Vargas, linked in the original blog post, Obama has other plans of making the White House and political process more transparent. In addition to the YouTube videos of the weekly addresses, Obama will also conduct online Q and A’s and video interviews. Also, members of the cabinet and other will make their own videos for Change.gov to join Obama and this change to a transparent government.
Reading further into this Slashdot post, I clicked on the link to the New York Times article by Jeff Zeleny, where it informed me that upon his arrival at the White House, Obama will have to say goodbye to his Blackberry. This means that Obama will no longer be able to have access to emails, due to the Presidential Records Act. According to the article, a decision has not been made yet whether or not Obama will be the first emailing president, but aides said that it seems doubtful. I feel that Obama becoming the first emailing president will further provide transparency. This has never really been a problem, but with the fast advancement of technology, it seems like it would be necessary for a president to have access to email, especially when Obama has been relying on it heavily throughout his campaign. Maybe the start of this comes when Obama becomes the first president to have a laptop computer on his desk at the Oval Office.
So to answer the question, how should government best utilize technology to engage the public and make government more transparent and accessible? I think that by going through with the weekly video address on YouTube and the video interviews and Q and A’s, Obama is off to a great start. I’m not really sure where to go from there though, because as time passes technology will be further advancing and who knows what technology Obama will have at hand and what he will be able to do with it. This change to make government transparent seems to be a huge step in Obama’s presidency. Obama will further grab the attention of young Americans by giving them access to the political process by using technology that most of us use daily. Keeping this transparency limited will allow Americans a better view as to what is going on, but will keep some things behind closed doors. With our current situation, I’m sure Americans want more access to the political process and want to see what is happening as it happens instead of being surprised when it happens.
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